Apparatus for feeding finely-divided fuel.



v c. LONGENECKEK APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FI NELY DIVIDED FUEL.

Pg t ented July 18, 1 916;

APPLICATION FILED SEPLZZ. 19H

tion chamber,

er-aye riairnnr QFFICE;

CHARLES LONGENECKER, OFSPBINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS assrenoa 'ro QUIGLEY FURNACE Ann FOUNDRY COMPANY, A conronarron OF MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FINELY-DIVIDED, FUEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18,1918.

4 Application filed. September 22, 1913. Seria1N0."791,173.

To all, whom-it may concern ,1.-

NECKER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, county of Hampden, State of -Massachusetts, have inrented certain new and useful Improvements, 'in Apparatus for Feeding Finely- Divided Fuel, of which the following isya specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for feeding finely divided fuel to the combustion chambers of furnaces. and is designed to simplify the apparatus heretofore em ployed and heighten. the efficiency thereof. 1

terior of the combustion chamber; Appara- -t-us-' of the above described type requiresthe use of considerable machinery subject to disarrangement and clogging, absorbs power in the operation of such machinery and is.

open to the practical objectionthat the back pressure. of the compressed air operating in confined spaces connected to 'the bottom of the hoppers containing thesup'ply of pulv'erized fuel is continually-tending to force aircurrents up through the body of fuel in saidh oppersf and break the seal and interfere with the operationofthe apparatus. I have overcome-these ditliculas a Whole. ties and greatlyreduced the initial cost of the apparatus required by the invention hereinafter more particularly described, in Which I employ the suction action of an air injector apparatus to lift or draw the pill-- verized fuel from the hopper or other receptacle," and then by continuation of the same operation force the fuel so'drawn out through the discharge orifice of the injector apparatus to the fuelburner and combus The best form of -apparatus at :present known to me embodying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying sheet er drawings in which,

Figure 1 is aside v1eW Ytithparts brOken away showing my apparatus and a portion bottom of the hopper 6.

of the 'wallof a combustion chamber (not shown), and Fig. 2 1s a detail plan view of the burner and its connections.

'l hroughout the drawings like reference characters indicate like parts,

1- represents a portion'of th'ewall ofa combustion chamber perforated to receive the burner tube 2,,in which is centered the fuel .'upply nozzle This nozzle is preferablycomiected to fuel supply pipe 5.which enters the tube 2. at one side and is con-v nected to the nozzle 3 by .an-ordinary form of T the rear end of which is plugged in any suitable manner.

'- is-a receptacle for finel; diiided-fuel such as pulverized coah-which preferably has one or more sides inclined'to the horizontal plzi11e,-as-sl1own at'12.

7,.is a hollow casting forming the chamber of an ordinary fiuid' injector in which the operatii'e of'jfluid .undcn pressure, such as compressed air, issupplicd 'throunh the nozzle The. pipe .5. is connected to the discharge outlet of this injector. The suction inlet ofv the injector is connected by pipell to the interior of the hopper G. such pipe 11, preferably extending 'toa point near the bottom of'said hopper, such bot:. tom being of relatirely small area with ref-. erence to the otherdimen sions of the hopper,

supplies compressed air from any suitable source to the injector nozzle 8. y In operation the hopper G. is kept. suitably, replenished with pulverized pressed air is supplied through pipe 9, at a pressure of about 90].)()1111(l5 or :111010. Auxiliary air of combustion is also supplied to-the b'urnertnbe 2. at a considerably lower pressure, sufficient to produce the necessary flow of air to supportcombustion. The

partialvacinini produced at the suction inlet of the injector 7. in accordance with the well known principle of the. injector. sucks up through the pipe 11, the necessary quantity of pulverized fuel drawn. from the- The' fuel mixed with air so drawn into the'injcctor -7. is driven out by'the propulsive force of'the jet from nozzle 8, through'the discharge outlet of the injector and the pipe 5, to nozzle 3; At that point, it is discharged is a pipe controlled by Valve Lida which hopper an into the'burner tub intimately mingled with the additiona- By regulating the flow of comair through the injector bymeans valve 10, or equivalent controlling ce, .the amount of fuel drawn fromthe The advantages of my invention comprise the fact'that alllmoving and wearing parts are dispensed witln the regulation is absolutely automatic without requ ring any delicate apparatus whatever, the consumption of power is limitedto the creation of' the necessary air blast, and no back pressure whateverv is-created in the hopper. In consequence of the last fact, the supply of coal in the hopper may be permitted to drop to the extreme .end of the suction pipe 11,

without any breaking .of the seal in the hopper,- or interference with the even action of the apparatus.

Another important advantage results 'from overcoming the difficulty heretofore encountered in controlling the movement of pulverized fuel in the ordinary form of hop per. Such fuel tends to pack or banlrup in curious and uncertain ways, which have made it extremely difficult to secure the constant and efficient feeding action of the 1 ordinary screw conveyor or other mechanical feeding device. With my invention the suction action tends to positively draw down all fuel'in the hopper to the point of outlet, 2'. e the end of the suction tube, and by properly inclining one'or more sides of the hopper, as shown at 12, in accordance with the best obtainable practice, and placing the inlet to the suction pipe at the narrower bottom of the hopper, all caka air passing there/ through in quantity sufficient to produce complete combustion, and the said comustible mixture is then driven into the omb' 'stion. chamber of the furnace (not delivered to the combustion chamber is automatically regulated.

memos ing or bankingorchimneying in the body of fuel in said hopper is avoided.

i arious changes could be inade in the de tails; and relative arrangement of parts of the apparatus illustrated and described hereinwithout departing from the principle of my invention, so long as the manner of operation above described isretained.

Other forms of burners, injectors, hoppers, and connecting pipes might be substi tuted for those illustrated, to suit varying conditions of operation, but all such it should consider within the scope of my invention so long asv the injector principle is employed by' which the same current of airopera'tes to draw the fuel from the bot tom of a suitable receptacle by suction andcarry the said fuel entrained in the air current to the combustion chamber for mixture with the auxiliary air necessary to produce complete combustion at that point.

Having, therefore, described my inven tion, I claim:

In a system for conveying and burning pulverized fuel, the combination, wi L a furnace having a feed-hole, of a pulverized fuel reservoir, having a normally closed bottom and open top, of an air-ejector located above the top of the said fuel and supplied with fluid under pressure and hav- M. G. CRA FORD. 

